Free, Fun Whitnall Block Party is Sept. 13

The highly successful and popular Whitnall Back-to-School Block Party is now in its fifth year, and this year could be the event’s best effort yet.

The 5th Annual Whitnall School District Back-To-School Block Party presented by Holz Motors will be held from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Whitnall High School’s Falcon Field, 5000 S. 116th St., Greenfield. The block party’s outdoor, festival-like atmosphere includes musical entertainment, food, and games, and attracts thousands of students, parents, alumni, and community members. Among this year’s new attractions are tours of the Whitnall School Forest.

This year, the Block Party will be held in an all-new location at Falcon Field after previously being held on 116th Street between Whitnall’s middle and high schools. The move allows event organizers to take advantage of the shelter, bathroom facilities and electricity at Falcon Field, one of the area’s premier athletic stadiums.

The Block Party, which began as district 50th anniversary celebration in 2010, is a unique event replicated by few, if any, schools in southeastern Wisconsin. The event is free and fun, and brings Whitnall families, faculty and community members together to showcase the district’s talented students and teachers, to celebrate success, and to promote a network of business, civic, and school organizations.

Though not intended to be a revenue-generating event, surplus funds from the event are donated to the District’s fine arts programs. Over the last three years, nearly $15,000 in Block Party profits have been used by the fine arts programs to purchase equipment such as keyboards and music stands for elementary music, cello racks for the orchestra and technology for the art department. In addition, excess funds allowed the district to bring back an art gallery evening, highlighting student work.

“The Block Party has been an incredible success over the last few years and just keeps getting bigger and better thanks to the support of our local sponsors and Whitnall’s great community members,” says Mike Seavert, event co-coordinator and Whitnall Middle School teacher. “The District is able to make a lot of purchases it normally wouldn’t be able to thanks to the tremendous amount of generosity.”

This year, Holz Motors in Hales Corners donated $1,000 to the event. That amount could increase to $2,000 based on an additional promotion held at the Block Party. Other major sponsors include Park’s Edge Preschool in Hales Corners, Hales Corners Elementary PTO and Quin Brunette Professional Painting.